You probably know or may have heard that SEO stands for search engine optimization. But what exactly does it mean and how does it work?

By definition, SEO is the method of increasing traffic to a website and ranking high in the organic listing of search engine results. 

In simpler terms, it is about knowing what users search for and what kind of content they expect, then optimizing your website to answer such queries. Upon doing so, your site gets to the first page of a search engine like Google. Ultimately, you want your website to sit at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

According to Hubspot, there are around 70,000 searches per second on Google. That is 5.8 billion search queries a day and approximately 2 trillion searches every year. In relation to that, millions of websites are competing for the same keywords or topics all the time. 

So, how are you going to make site visitors stay longer on your website for your to rank up using SEO?

This is where on-page and off-page SEO come in.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the strategy that deals with the quality of your site’s content, as well as the quantity. Any elements that you have control over within your website like any of the below items, that is an on-page SEO factor.

• Title tags and meta description
• Keywords
• Headings and sub-headings
• Internal links
• Structure of URL
• Photos and videos
• Alt tags

To optimize your on-page SEO, doing keyword research is essential. You will be able to use those in the items listed above. 

Include keywords that your target market uses, but do not overuse them, most especially if those are not relevant to your site. Google penalizes websites that do keyword stuffing. You can also focus on long tail keywords that usually get more conversions because it is more specific.

Another tip is to keep on coming up with fresh content. Don’t worry, though; fresh content does not always mean new. You can rewrite and update some of the content you’ve already published. Remember to include internal links in your published blog posts.

Also, take note that there are different tools that you can use for keyword research and content optimization.

Once you have optimized your on-page SEO, then it’s time to work on your off-page SEO.

Off-page SEO

If we’re talking about techniques that do not directly apply to your website’s look or content, then that’s off-page SEO. It focuses on building a good reputation, showing search engines that you are a credible source of information.

Two of the main factors in off-page SEO are backlinks and social media. 

Backlinks are the inbound or incoming links to your website. This means that another website linked to your website, which may be as a site or as an example. Backlinks help with exposure, referral traffic, and, of course, rankings. Ensure that your content remains relevant and informative so that other sites will link to yours. 

Another way to receive backlinks is to do guest blogging on other websites. You can contact a related website to your niche and ask them if you can contribute an article, but in return, they have to link back to you. 

Let’s now jump to social media.

Does your company or brand have social media accounts? Do you post regularly? 

You need to.

Social media plays a significant role in off-page SEO. Engagement is important; thus, you need to create content that will make people react, comment, share your posts, and click on links. When your brand is exposed through social media, it increases your chance of having more site visitors and getting backlinks. Grow an active community by building relationships with your customers. 

How? Publish informative posts regularly and reply to their comments and messages. 

As Google’s priority is providing quality content to users, they would want this content to be shared with others, too. That’s why social media is a factor in off-page SEO.

With off-page SEO, we should also not forget influencer marketing. 

Influencer marketing is when brands partner with influencers to promote their product or service in exchange for either monetary value or a deal. When you deal with influencers, make sure that their niche and following is connected to your business. Otherwise, it would all go to waste. Reach out only to those who can help plug your product or service to your target market.

Start your SEO journey now!

And that’s it. These are just some necessary information about on-page and off-page SEO. Keep yourself informed by reading or watching videos of updates about SEO.

If you need help in developing your website, we can help you here at Gadai. Feel free to contact us.